Review by 12XU

I always run hot and cold on these photo and video editing programs. Some programs offer too much flexibility (Photoshop), while others completely fall short (I’ll let you fill that one in). Some provide too many additional add-on features, some provide none. With PD5 Ultra, Cyberlink has hit the sweet spot for me, as I am not a professional photographer, but want to be able to manage and edit my work.

Installation was easy and smooth on my WIndows 7 64-bit computer (yes, it’s got native 64-bit support). Start-up is very quick, and the interface is excellent - a neutral grey that makes it easy to work with your photos. Importing is easy and relatively quick, letting you get to work almost right away.

There are five main sections: library, edit, slidewshow, print, and adjustment.

The Library section is great. It’s basic, but really works nicely and smoothly, gathering all my photos into one easy-to-navigate and searchable place. It’s often the libraries that I dislike the most in these programs, but I’m very happy with the one in PD 5.

Adjustment lets you tweak thinks like white balance, color, tone, tinge, etc - you’ll be familiar with these as they’re settings found in most cameras. Don’t want to go manual? There are a huge number of presets available as well, for those that like to grab and go Instagram style, and they’re all quite good. An excellent and well balanced set of tools overall.

Edit provides the full suite of tools one would expect; object removal, merge, frames, effects, etc. For the most part, the effects are excellent and varied. The extract tool works fairly well (using a lasso or smart-tool) and the ability to tweak the results is a welcome feature. Object removal works well too, though depending on the subject matter it can struggle from time to time.

Slideshow and print are simple and what you would expect: ways to build slideshows or set up printing.

Honestly, the program is too deep to list everything it can do in one place. Cyberlink provides a bunch of tutorials that are set up to help beginners and experts alike get the most from the program - and there’s a lot to get.

It runs rock solid, looks great, has a suite of excellent tools and allows beginners to get going while more advanced users can dig deeper. A fantastic program, a great choice and now my go-to photo editing software.